On February 8, 2018 the Washington Missourian newspaper published a letter to the editor from former prosecutor Dan Buescher (1970-1981). The title is “Conflict of Interest in the Allen Case”.

Here is the text:

To The Editor:

In the first place, nearly any death that occurs in the commission of a first-degree burglary constitutes a felony murder and any prosecutor worth his pay knows this and could try the case to a conviction, especially when the coroner in this case reported that Mr. Allen’s death was caused by choking and not by the position in which the burglars had tied him up.

The coroner’s report sent from Parks’ office states this clearly as does the coroner’s later explanation.

Mr. Parks’ only explanation for the extremely lenient plea deal of seven years imprisonment, which at least two judges (Gael Wood and Craig Hellmann) have refused to accept as being too little (I assume), was the false statement that the cause of death was from Allen’s position while tied, not from an intentional choking.

Now Mr. Parks dismissed all other crimes committed, leaving only the “intentional manslaughter” charge, thereby tying the later judge’s hands. I wonder where Mr. Parks got his medical degree so that he thinks he can substitute his opinion for that of the only coroner who examined the body.

Further, the cause of death is immaterial in this case as it is still a felony murder. Mr. Parks also later claimed that Mr. Allen was a pedophile. I doubt that, since there is no record of any conviction.

If it were true, Parks should have prosecuted him to protect the children of Franklin County! Moreover, Mr. Parks and his office should have never touched this case since at the time of his death Ken Allen was suing Mr. Parks in civil court. In my opinion, this is a clear conflict of interest, calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor.

So the question remains: Why did Mr. Parks and his office stay in this case?

The next hearing for the murder cases is Friday March 2nd at 2pm. The hearing will be at 401 E Main St, Union MO in front of Judge Michael Wright.

The 3 defendants are pleading guilty to the charge, the only remaining charge prosecutor Parks has left for them, of Involuntary Manslaughter with the maximum sentence for that charge — 7 years. Prosecutor Parks has dropped Burglary 1 and reduced Murder 2 to Involuntary Manslaughter. I guess soon my family will get back from the evidence room the possessions these 3 defendants took from our house. We will never get my dad back.

This is not a plea agreement between the prosecution and the defense. This is a plea. Therefore, there is no plea deal for the judge to accept or reject. Prosecutor Parks has tied the hands of the judges. They can’t reject this.

Remember, on Jan 8, 2018 Judge Hellmann rejected as too lenient the plea deal Parks was offering whereby the defendants would plead guilty to Count 2 receiving stolen property and Count 3 Felony Murder amended to Involuntary Manslaughter, 7 years; Total time served: 7 years. On Oct 20, 2017 Judge Wood rejected as too lenient a plea deal which was LESS lenient than the one in January 2018.

Prosecutor Parks is more interested in offering plea deals and avoiding trials than obtaining truth and justice, or doing his job. Taking another person’s life is the greatest evil one can commit. Prosecutor Parks has worked very hard to be as lenient as possible to my dad’s killers. I presume you will see the final result of his work on this on Mar 2nd.

On January 22, 2018, Judge Craig Hellmann recused himself from the murder cases. Prosecutor Parks has tied the hands of the judges whereby a plea deal is not being offered, but merely a plea. This means that the judges have nothing to accept or reject.

Judge Hellmann did the only thing he could do in order to “reject” what Parks is trying to do by recusing himself.

Now that the last judge in the 20th Circuit in MO has recused, a new out of county judge must be appointed by the MO Supreme Court.

This SECOND plea deal prosecutor Parks put forth is even more lenient than the one that Judge Wood rejected in Oct 2017. WHY?

Immediately after Judge Hellmann rejected this second plea deal, Parks produced his third recommendation, which this time is not a plea deal. It is merely a plea on the part of the defendants, with no quid pro quo. See the following: